Weekly review
Poll
Concern about gaps in the skills and knowledge of our pupils is voiced quite widely from time to time. Unfortunately, only when someone from outside Latvia has concluded as much. Why is that?
There is a political tendency to be busy, to invest, to make promises, but not to think about the results
If you have little knowledge yourself, you do not even know how or what you do not know...
A smart society is not always desirable or welcome
Many interests swirl around education. A "good result" is rarely mentioned among them
10-16 September
On upcoming events (in chronological order)
### Monday, 19 September, voting for the European Tree of the Year in Latvia begins. We will provide updates separately.
### 30 September Forestry Science Afternoon at the LVMI Silava research institute
### 20 October at Jelgava Palace, the annual internal forestry sector conference will take place in the auditorium of the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (formerly LLU). Starting at 10:00, there will be reports on forestry sector operations under wartime conditions (presented by a Ukrainian representative), current trends in international markets, an analysis of energy issues, and other topics relevant to the industry.
The conference is an internal event for forestry companies and organisations, with limited attendance by government representatives and 'friends of the industry'.
### From 20 to 22 October in Daugavpils, the 11th International Conference on Biodiversity Research (ICBR 2022).
### 28 October Forest Faculty reunion (information to follow)
### LMSP 7th International Conference 'Sustainability of land-use sectors – under the conditions of European environmental policy requirements and geopolitical reality' 3 November at the Forest Faculty of the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LLU).
On recent events and the unacceptable (State Revenue Service Tax and Customs Police officers 'fabricated' a criminal case and attempted to extort a 100,000 euro bribe from a businessman. A brief summary 'of' and 'about' .)
Note: colleagues in the industry will undoubtedly have heard about this incident. For now, the fact that very specific circumstances and a particular situation must exist for a well-known and successful businessman to be attacked in such a crude and arrogant manner has remained in the background and been little discussed. Moreover, talk of 'ordered' outcomes, etc., has been circulating for some time, even from non-gossip media outlets. This is unacceptable!
On current industry topics
Changes in timber markets following the start of the war in Ukraine have significantly increased the demand for all types of roundwood in Latvia, which in turn has created a shortage in the availability of logging and roundwood transport services.
Artūrs Bukonts, Executive Director of the Latvian Timber Producers and Exporters Association, points to a problem that will affect timber processors and consequently production volumes and export earnings.
Forest sector export revenues in the first half of this year reached nearly 2.2 billion euros, which is 36.6% more than in the same period in 2021, and this volume is greater than the total for all of 2016; the reason for this situation is the 'fear premium'.
Latvijas valsts meži (LVM) deals not only with logging and reforestation—the company also has a structure that deals with the development of mineral resources. LVM manages dozens of gravel and sand extraction sites of various sizes, as well as vast peat bog areas. However, the European Green Deal may negatively affect the peat industry specifically, as fulfilling its requirements would mean that peat extraction for energy purposes must be completely phased out by 2030.
Andis Lazdiņš, a leading researcher at LVMI Silava, explains that the researchers' hypothesis was that emissions originate not only in bogs but also in wet forests with peat soils—fens. To understand how many emissions are generated in an undrained fen, or in unmeliorated forest, the Silava researchers set up test sites in birch, black alder, and aspen stands of various ages. Parallel measurements were taken in meliorated peatlands with the same tree species. In total, measurements were taken at slightly fewer than 40 sites. 'For two years, we performed gas exchange measurements in these areas,' explains Andis Lazdiņš.
'Openness, mutual knowledge transfer, and educating the new generation about processes essential to the national economy are, in our opinion, some of the main keys to a sustainable future. Therefore, Latvijas Finieris' involvement in various educational processes has long-standing traditions,' says Jānis Staris, a member of the board at Latvijas Finieris, noting that the Green Classroom is the most ambitious event of this kind organised by the company.
It is understood that the Nature Conservation Agency (DAP) has a very peculiar understanding of the Latvian word 'cooperation'. This is not the first manifestation of this style and type of cooperation. Raitis Čakstiņš, Deputy Director of the Nature Conservation Department of the Nature Conservation Agency's Kurzeme Regional Administration, told me that the owners of the Vaiņode (or Lielbāta) Manor, the Griģis family, had hired an arborist despite having been refused permission to fell the lime tree.
When the owners requested the municipality to cut down the lime tree because it had become dangerous, the municipality turned to the Nature Conservation Agency, as the tree was registered as a dižkoks (heritage tree) and was therefore no longer the municipality's responsibility.
la.lv · kailcirtes no dzivas miesas izrauts gabalsmezzinis peteris v…
Very peculiar behaviour (publication) at a time when a segment of the public is following journalistic investigations into the business of esotericism and the 'afterlife'. More than two months have passed since the government's decision to allow the felling of younger forests and thinner trees, as well as the protest picket outside the Cabinet of Ministers building. The loggers have achieved their goal, and the resistance promised by nature lovers has yet to be felt. While there is silence on the 'front', we invited Peter Wohlleben, perhaps the most famous forester in Europe and beyond, for a conversation. His book, which reveals surprising things about trees and forests, has achieved sensational success.
On current economic topics
On Friday, 16 September, an informal meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council took place in Prague (Czech Republic), where EU member states discussed food security and the EU's role in sustainable food production globally.
Food security is currently at the centre of attention for national leaders, international organisations, and the entire international community. For the EU Council, currently presided over by the Czech Republic, food security is also a priority. The European Commission is working tirelessly on this issue, despite the fact that EU citizens have no reason for concern regarding food supplies. However, the question of how to ensure food accessibility for low-income households in the face of rising inflation is a pressing one.
The conceptual report 'On the necessary changes in the governance policy of public capital companies and public capital shares', prepared by the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre (PKC) and supported at the 13 September Cabinet of Ministers meeting, defines the implementation of a more purposeful state-owned enterprise governance policy. It provides for the introduction of significant changes, such as determining a corporate governance policy for each new political cycle's government, a duty for the Cabinet of Ministers to review the future strategic development of non-privatisable state-owned enterprises every 5 years, and the introduction of a more centralised selection process for board members in capital companies that do not have supervisory boards.
In 2021, almost 7,000 remigrants returned to Latvia from abroad, accounting for 54.8% of all arrivals. These are Latvian citizens and non-citizens, as well as individuals whose state affiliation is elsewhere but whose country of birth is Latvia, according to the latest experimental statistics from the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP).
Every food product is essentially composed of agricultural produce—whether eggs, berries, grain, potatoes, or anything else—which undergoes processing and packaging. Energy and labour are required in all these stages. We cannot say that any of these elements is becoming cheaper or will become cheaper in the near future. The question now is only by how many multiples each of these components has become more expensive.
The first shipment of sauerkraut from a small business in Brunava Parish, Bauska Municipality, has departed for Norway. Exports of the products to Romania and Bulgaria are also set to begin. As the 'Latvijas dārznieks' association admits, such cases are not frequent because it is difficult for small producers to compete on price and produce the required volumes.
In the modernised stations and stops, elevated platforms will be built, which will be equipped using a modular principle with comfortable and functional shelters, benches, bike racks, and other necessary equipment, the quantity of which can be easily adjusted if necessary as passenger volumes at a specific stop change.
Other important and interesting news
On 15 September, a memorial site for the National Partisan War was unveiled in the forest between Renda and Kabile, created as a result of several years of active work by members of the Rubeņa fonds foundation.
In the vicinity of the Oskars Kalpaks Museum in Saldus Municipality, extensive construction work has begun to add a spacious open-air exhibition to the site. The museum, which tells the story of the Latvian War of Independence and the military campaign of Colonel Kalpaks, will be complemented with a combat outpost, a trench system, a storage area for transport and armament elements, and interactive games. The forthcoming open-air exhibition will also tell the story of the modern Latvian soldier, the army, and the development of the National Guard after the restoration of independence.
What a surprise! ... On Monday, US embassies in more than 20 countries received information from American intelligence services about how Russia has spent at least 300 million dollars over the last eight years to bribe officials and politicians in these countries in order to exert its political influence and interfere in electoral processes, and it would be extremely unlikely that these schemes bypassed Latvia.
How much are you paying right now for uncritically consuming evening news content, in the belief that you will definitely be told the most important things? For the fact that you do not delve into politics, or even into large bills? And most importantly—for the fact that you do not criticise anyone, for fear of appearing to be an enemy of your own country? Where can one see how much you are paying for all of this? One very clear example right now is the absurdly high electricity bills. Of course, what is a hole in your budget and a tightened belt is a huge profit and bonus for someone else. But that is how it should be, or is it?!
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